


London Calling: Kotobuki Special

by neverendingworlds



Series: UtaPri World Travel Adventures [2]
Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Or Rather Just The One Tsundere, Travel, Tsunderes, Vacation, video call
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 18:11:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19382032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverendingworlds/pseuds/neverendingworlds
Summary: London is just as incredible the third time around, only lacking in a single aspect. Every time Reiji glanced over his shoulder to tell Ranmaru yet another fun but irrelevant fact, he remembered his boyfriend was half away across the world.(Inspired by the Shining Liv UK Reiji Event)





	London Calling: Kotobuki Special

Reiji hit the duvet with a thud and a sigh, his face hitting the exact gap between the two sets of pillows. Flopping in the middle of the bed after a long day and receiving no grumbles in return? It wasn't the same.

The excitement of being back in England obscured the distinct lack-of-Ranmaru feeling for the first few nights, of course. It had been a whirlwind of meetings and executives, stores and shoots. Not to mention sightseeing with Syo in every spare second, dragging him to the best of places with so much blind enthusiasm you'd have thought it was Reiji's first time in the UK.

In fact, it wasn't until the third day he started to really feel it – in the muskiest of backalley record stores, the gruff clerk was chain smoking while 80s punk blasted through the speakers at a volume discouraging discussion. Ranmaru's favourite volume. Wouldn't Ranmaru have loved the selection, the aesthetic, the guitars lining the walls? And the place they went for dinner, some pretty famous rockstars had dined there before, Ranmaru would have thought that was neat. Thoughts of that nature built up, becoming louder than his enthusiasm and more pressing than the usual kind of underlying chronic emptiness until it peaked. It was only day four, and Reiji was left sighing into the sheets after something as silly as seeing a stray cat in an alleyway. The spitting image of the stray they called their own, a black coat of fur with the cutest little white socks. But even if that wasn't the case...

“Ranran would have wanted to feed it...” Reiji murmured. He fumbled for his phone in the pockets of his tweed jacket, only to be met with vibration and the most delightful image on his phone: A candid snap of his boyfriend chowing down on a banana.

He quickly sat up, putting on the biggest of grins as he propped up his phone on the pillows and faced it.

“Ranran! I was just thinking about you~ See, I told you we're connected. It's magical!”  
  
There he was. Rolling mismatched eyes, perfectly spiked hair, too much eyeliner, lips that tried too hard to suppress their own smiles.  
  
“Yeah, whatever. Airhead,” Ranmaru grumbled, voice lacking in bite. He glared at Reiji halfheartedly from what looked to be a dressing room – make up bags open on a counter, cans of hairspray littered about.  
  
Reiji pouted his poutiest pout, grey eyes widening and lips pushed out to the extreme. “Mouu, you're being mean before you've even said hello. Where are your manners?” He angled the phone a little higher, giving a better angle for viewing his mock heartbreak.  
  
“I said I'd call you on break. It's break.” Ranmaru's stare was almost accusatory. The sheepish smile Reiji gave him return elicited an exasperated sigh. “Airhead.”

“Riiiight, you did say that! I completely forgot, hehe~ ”

“Yeah.”

There were few too many beats of silence, lengthened by Ranmaru's intense focus on, well, _anywhere_ except for the screen. 

“Soooo... how's Japan?”

“Fine. Quiet.” Ranmaru paused, pursing his lips in the way that he did when he wanted to say something, but wouldn't. “Guessing England's great?”

“Only the most amazing place on Earth!” Reiji couldn't stop himself from sighing dreamily, for the United Kingdom truly was a land of wonder. “We both fit in here so well! With my knowledge and Syotan's looks- Oh, his looks, he looks so good in punk fashion just wait till you see the pictures! It's fate! Such an eye for aesthetics, Ai-Ai must be so proud.” Another dreamy sigh, his kouhai certainly did look fantastic.

The moment where Ranmaru would have usually told him to slow down (or in severe cases, shut up) passed, encouraging the motormouth to fill the space. After all the existence of silence meant his RanRan wanted to listen, that he'd maybe even missed the rambling.  
  
“We're just, really having the best time, even though there's been some uh, pining. Syotan misses Nattsun a lot. Buuut, you didn't hear that from me.” Reiji enthused into the camera, with a little wink at the end. “Hue hue, he's trying to hide it of course, but he's bought a plush toy from just about every souvenir shop we've been in. So cute.”  
  
“Always with the gossip,” Ranmaru grumbled half-heartedly. “Leave 'em alone.”  
  
“I'm just keeping an eye on our precious kouhai group, that's all!” Reiji said, punctuating with a whine. “Aww, don't make that face. You love it!”

Ranmaru shrugged and grunted in response. As the resident Ranmaru grunt expert, Reiji instantly recognised it to be a neutral grunt. Noncommittal. Heh, he totally loved it.

As opaque as those oft mismatched eyes could be, as forceful as his protests could be, Ranmaru's heart seemed pure and transparent. The more he tried to hide his feelings, the more they slipped through the cracks. Watching it unfold made the world around Reiji more bearable, made him feel less breakable somehow.

“You know...” Ranmaru cleared his throat, rubbed the back of his neck. “I think Aki-chan misses you. She's been meowing at the door. Being all weird 'n shit.”

“Meowing for papa? Oh, Aki-chan! Poor baby. At least I know Ranran will take very good care of our girl.” Reiji couldn't help but smile a small smile, imagination racing.

Their sweet kitten curled up on Ranmaru's lap, napping together on the couch. The afternoon sun would shine through the windows of the condo, Ranmaru's hair catching the light in a way that made it seem to glow a little. Almost as sweet as reality, the pixels that made up Ranmaru's face on his screen and the words that made up his thinly veiled affections.

“Still... I better come home soon then, ne? For _Aki-chan,_ of course.” The grin Reiji wore was hardly innocent.  
  
It had the rocker spluttering. “Do whatever you want!”

“What I _want_ ,” Reiji left the word hanging, tension mounting. He watched Ranmaru's shoulders stiffen, tense, on the defensive. Likely expecting teasing, or worse _innuendo._ Reiji chuckled and hoped he'd never become immune to the giddiness these antics brought him. “- is a good nap session with you. I'm missing my Ranran, you know!”

And he was hooked, line and sinker. It was always such a pleasure to watch the tension drain out of him, watch him soften, try and find his bluff and bluster.“Video not enough for ya?”

“Of course it isn't!” Reiji scoffed in mock offence. “You're not here, and I wanna take you all around London! There are so many stores you'd love, and street musicians, and bars, famous venues and-”  
  
“I'd go with you.” Ranmaru blurted it out like some kind of confession, eyes screwed shut as colour filled his cheeks.

Eyelids fluttered as Reiji blinked in rapid succession, lips parted and eyes wide. “Eh? What was that?”

“You heard me,” Ranmaru gruffed. He looked offscreen, as if trying to pretend his cheeks weren't burning still. “One day. I'll go with you.”

Reiji shot up, dropping is phone in the process. “Whoo hoo!! You mean it?!”  
  
“F-For the rock. Don't read into it.”

“Too late! Uwah! You can't see yet, but I'm doing a happy dance.” He swiped his phone from the duvet, grinning into the camera. “Hue hue, you really do love me, ne, Ranran?”

Video calls were their own kind of magic, tangible and wonderous. The warmth in Reiji's chest felt full to bursting, smile so bright his cheeks hurt. It only grew as Ranmaru scratched the back of his neck, his gaze falling to his screen – the visage of Reiji that filled it.  
  
“Yeah. Come home soon.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> More fluff practice! ReiRan is my favourite UtaPri ship to be honest, expect more content in the future. I would highkey die for Reiji ^_^ Ahem anyway, thanks for reading my self indulgent ReiRan fluff <3 (Next up on the writing/posting schedule is angst chapters of both chaptered fics! Yay!)


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